Current Energy: 9
Current Training: Warrior Monk 5/10 - 7/10
Tuesday, March 8th, 2011
Hebert Household, Brockton Bay
You and your Master wake up that morning, and set to the usual morning ablutions.
She showers, dresses, eats, and then sits down in the garage to meditate.
She does all of this, completely without prompting, and without speaking a single word to you - which is more than a little abnormal. However, you don't comment on it. Yesterday evening's events were more than a little disturbing, so you can understand why your Master might not be in the best of moods.
Your Master had - of course - immediately gotten in contact with the PRT yesterday night. They hadn't been especially happy about the potential presence of a Master targeting Taylor, but they obviously didn't hold her personally responsible for what happened either - especially since she healed the girl before bringing her to them.
Unfortunately, that was where anything resembling a speedy resolution to the matter ended. The PRT took Madison and had her placed in a Master/Stranger containment cell, watched over by an officer who could subdue her if she was still Mastered into hurting herself when she woke up.
And that was all that was done.
It wasn't that the PRT refused to do anything either - they just couldn't do anything. There was too little information to go on, and no other incidents of note in the city to use in order to investigate. Armsmaster had promised he would work with Dragon to backtrack her through the last several days but well... given the type of triggered mastering that has clearly occurred, it could have been instigated anytime in the last several weeks, and no one would have known.
Regardless, there is a somber air about your Master as you sit down to continue training with her.
At first, everything goes well. She doesn't glow, float, or otherwise do anything mystical and bizarre. Initially, you chalk this up as a win, and are pleased to be able to do some of your own meditation. Then you notice the floor is vibrating. Then you notice, much to your dismay, that you can only tell the floor is vibrating because your entire body is being pressed into it, as though a giant had chosen to sit on you without your notice.
"M-Master." You grunt from the floor, in an effort to get Taylor's attention from where she is sitting with her eyes closed and an annoyed expression on her face. The second she hears you, her eyes snap open, and as though only just realizing what she is doing - which is crushing the area immediately around her with the weight of her soul.
"Sorry!" She blurts out in dismay, immediately cutting off the feeling of pressure keeping you pressed against the ground and blushing like a child that has just wet the bed.
"Guh, it's fine. Just don't do it again. Maybe we should leave it for today." You say sourly, pushing yourself upright and blinking what could be either stars or literal concrete out of your eyes.
"No I can do it! I just- I hate this." Taylor spits in annoyance.
"We've been through worse." You point out.
"That's not the point. I hate this situation. I hate not being able to locate and punch the problem. I hate not knowing whats going to happen next. I hate being reminded of when I was-" She cuts herself, but the final unspoken word is as obvious to you as it is to her.
'Helpless'
It makes sense. Madison was close to her trigger event, and as much as your Master has grown, she has also come to expect a certain amount of control over her personal situation. If you are being a bit more candid, you could describe your Master as someone who hates when things she doesn't like happen, and generally accrues power in order to ward off situations she doesn't like. Many people would describe that as selfish, or naive - but you just think its honest. Your Master's fondest wish is to do what she wants without being restricted or bothered by obstacles, and her power, you, give her the ability to do just that.
Silently, you hurl a thought into the ether, hoping your shard self is paying attention. Despite the fact that you know it physically cannot, you beg it, even for just one second, to ease off on the trigger trauma.
Then you do what you have to do, which is comfort your Master.
"You've countered a Master before - in Canberra." You point out, directing your Master's mind away from the downward spiral of concern and worry she is currently feeling.
"That was different. Magic Resistance resists incoming directed effects - like the Simurgh's scream. I don't think the same trick would work on... whatever this is." She says with a frown, crossing her arms in front of her chest and taking on a thoughtful expression.
"Maybe you could start looking into it?" You ask. Truthfully, you were actually going to say 'it's magic, I refuse to believe you can't just make up a solution', but your current emulation actually doesn't know the first thing about the various forms of mysticism your Master flings about with such wanton abandon so you changed it.
For all you know Magic has rules that actually have to be followed, like Alchemy.
Which... definitely isn't magic, even if it includes lots of mysticism, mystical circles, a bunch of bizarre symbolism, and-
You... you're going to stop thinking about this line of reasoning now.
"Yeah I guess so..." Taylor muses, still in her thinking pose.
"Thanks Emmy. Love you." She says absently.
"I love you too, Master." You say, with an unfamiliar smile spreading across your face.
Tuesday, March 8th, 2011
Winslow High, Brockton Bay
"So uh... my... friend... wanted me to reach out to you for... professional... reasons..." Greg says awkwardly as he lamely sidles up to the cafeteria table that Taylor and Jamie are sitting at.
The two members of your team are playing a game of Shogi, at Jamies request. Counter to what you might expect from the boy who has modeled his personality after an ancient kungfu master - he sucks at it. In fact, neither he nor your Master fully even knew the rules when he put the board on the table.
Thankfully, through the magic of the internet, they managed to figure it out and get to playing - even if your Masters various powers make it almost trivial to win at against the novice Jamie.
"I am aware of your powers Greg. Is that move legal? Maybe we should check the-" Jamie begins to quibble, barely acknowledging Greg's presence as he returns to complaining about your Masters skill at the game.
"It is, and we aren't. I don't have enough Phone Data to waste checking every time you ask." Taylor says bluntly.
"B-Th- Taylor! Actually shit, you just outed me dude!" Greg freaks out, head darting around in a sudden panic.
"Be at ease. Taylor did not inform me of your status - I have just noticed that your body temperature is several degrees higher than everyone else's at all times, and that you hide your physique beneath baggy clothing." Jamie waves dismissively at him.
"Not. The. Point." Greg grinds out.
"Don't worry about it Greg. I carved a silence rune into this thing months ago." Taylor says absently while examining the game board.
"...like the thing we use in class sometimes?" He asks curiously.
"Pretty much." Taylor acknowledges.
"...Oh. Uh... so can I sit here or..?" He asks sheepishly.
"It's not like I refuse to share the table. It's not my fault no one else wants to sit with me." Taylor replies with a shrug before nodding to Jamie. "Until recently anyway," She adds belatedly.
"Coooool..." Greg says slowly before glancing around the cafeteria - all of which is observing him with varying levels of interest - and slowly withdrawing his lunch from his backpack.
"So? What's Tattletale want?" Taylor asks once he is settled, doing an admirable job of hiding her antipathy towards the blond.
"She wanted to let you that Uber and Leet are back in town for some reason. I think they're recruiting people to pull off something they think is big?" Greg says with a hint of excitement in his voice.
"Greg, they're sociopathic man children. They hurt people." Taylor says flatly.
"Not all the time! Some of their videos are really wholesome!" He defends.
"They sent a prostitute to the ICU." Jamie points out neutrally.
"No, no, that was a paid actor! She was fine after-" Greg tries to counter.
"No. She was not. I recently taught her how to remove a mans ability to procreate without getting blood on her hands." Jamie responds in an entirely too pleased sounding tone.
Greg shifts his seat a few feat away from the Martial Arts Master.
After school that day, you and your Master make your way to the Heap - where she promptly locks herself in her laboratory pending Madison waking up. She stays there for the rest of the night, and when you get home, she hasn't managed to crack the problem yet - but she is feeling better about it.
Which is all that really matters to you anyway.